Parakeets fighting or playing?

Last week I took my daughter to Petsmart to pick up dog food and check out the animals. We saw dogs, cats, frogs, fish, rodents and finally birds. The parakeets caught our eye because they were particularly active that day.

There were two parakeets sitting on a hollow tube hanging from the top of the cage. The two birds were chasing each other in and around this tube and even biting each other. Occasionally, one would fly around it then land on the tube again. We could not figure out if they were playing a game or actually fighting over the tube as "territory".

Anyone know if birds fight for territory or just play games?

I don't have an answer for you without seeing the actual scene.

Yes, certain birds might be territorial. Sometimes they can simply get mad at each other. Parakeets can fight for real and I have seen it. What you described isn't clear enough for me to be sure if it was a real fight. Sometimes they do play around and it might look like fighting.

Take a video and post it will be very helpful.

Ram, Thank you so much for your take on this situation. I understand that it's hard to know what the birds are doing without a video. Unfortunately my phone doesn't have video capabilities. I would love to have gotten a video of their actions that day!

I remember when I was a kid my mother had a couple of "lovebird" parakeets (if that makes sense). I remember them squabbling quite often. Or playing. They were quite active and very entertaining.